Chandhok set for Dubai 24 hour race

Indian ace Karun Chandhok will be part of the Empire Motorsport Team's driving lineup in the 2009 24hr Dubai Endurance Race starting on Friday.

Written by Press Trust of India

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Dubai:

Indian ace Karun Chandhok will be part of the Empire Motorsport Team's driving lineup in the 2009 24hr Dubai Endurance Race starting on Friday.

The race starts at the Dubai Autodrome at 2pm local time tomorrow and will run till 2pm on Saturday.

The Indian racing ace has been called in to strengthen the Empire Motorsport Team's driving lineup in the only factory-supported Lotus 211 in the popular endurance race featuring 88 cars across seven different categories.

"I've never done an endurance race before but since there was no clash with any of my other plans for 2009, I agreed to join the team," Karun said.

"I think it's good for a driver to use the off-season to try new things and the Lotus name carries so much history with it which makes the drive more interesting and attractive!" said the Indian.

"The race will be a real eye-opener for me I think as I'm used to pushing 100 per cent for the full 90 minutes of a GP2 race whereas now I'll be driving six times that distance.

Also, racing at night is a totally new experience for me and I think managing the traffic with 88 cars on track is going to be quite tricky," added Karun.

Empire Motorsport driver Denis Lian said the team was looking forward to benefit from Karun's GP2 experience.

"We're very lucky to have a GP2 race winner and current Formula 1 test driver on board. It's a testament of the team's professionalism that a driver of Karun's calibre will choose to drive for us." said Lian.